Los Angeles’ big rain day: Miserable commutes, power outages, river rescues

Who doesn't love this 1952 classic? So we thought we'd leave you with the song that comes after the goodnight kiss. Thanks for reading.

That rain that flooded a freeway in Long Beach, collapsed part of a home in San Gabriel, knocked out power across Los Angeles and washed away a hillside in Orange County was just a glimpse of what an El Niño rainstorm would look like, climatologists say.

Unlike previous downpours to hit Southern California this summer that were characterized by isolated, heavy rain in the high desert and valleys amid thunderstorms, Tuesday's rain came at a slower clip, but over a much wider area and for a longer period of time, the National Weather Service said.

When the area's winter storms come in -- fueled by El Niño -- expect more of what came Tuesday, except it will be “more widespread, more continuous. Like a conveyer belt,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“It has the El Niño footprint, but it's not an El Niño storm,” he said.

National Weather Service forecaster Robbie Munroe said that Tuesday's rain was from remnants of Hurricane Linda, which dissipated in the Pacific some time ago. Linda was born out of the ocean warming trend that El Niño creates, that encourages bigger, more frequent tropical storms in the Pacific, Munroe said.

Those conditions met a low pressure system from the Pacific Northwest that created Tuesday's rain. In the winter, a storm such as Tuesday's would likely stretch as far south as Orange County and north of Santa Barbara, Patzert said.

“You get down to it, you know, a quarter-inch of rain on the freeways is a disaster," Patzert said. “Two inches of rain? Man, come on, it's the apocalypse.”

-- Joseph Serna

CHP reports:

Today: 572

Yesterday: 267

-- Joseph Serna

Things are drying up around Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service.

Outside of a few scattered showers in the San Gabriel Valley, Tuesday's rain clouds had mostly left the parched city behind as of 2:30 p.m., according to Joe Sirard, a meteorologist at the service's Los Angeles weather center.

Sporadic rainfall was expected to drop roughly six one-hundredths of an inch of rain near the San Gabriel Mountains and in the area of Northridge around 2:30 p.m., but the larger storm system has passed, Sirard said.

There is a 20% chance of scattered showers this evening, but Sirard said most of the moisture that brought heavy rainfall Tuesday morning has left the area.

“It looks pretty anemic right now for heavy rainfall," he said. "The heavy rainfall threat is pretty much over for this event.”

-- James Queally

And what it was like an hour ago...

At least six Los Angeles area schools are dealing with temporary power outages because of Tuesday's rainstorms.

As of 1 p.m., Reed Middle School, 112th Street Early Education Center and Resolute Academy in Los Angeles were all dealing with temporary outages, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Resolute Academy in Sun Valley and Aspire Academy and McAuliffe Early Education Center in South Gate also were facing outages, school officials said.

-- Sonali Kohli

Long Beach's top health official has ordered the city's beaches closed due to an active sewage spill estimated to be at least 250,000 gallons. The sewage entered the region's storm system in San Gabriel, about 33 miles away.

Swimming areas will remain closed until the water can be tested for safety, city officials said. In addition, Dr. Mitchell Kushner cautioned that ocean swimming should be avoided for three days following the end of heavy rain.

-- Megan Garvey

Flooding from Tuesday's rain had shut down several sections of the freeway earlier in the morning.

As of 11 a.m., Opids Camp and UCLA had received the most rainfall in Los Angeles County as a result of Tuesday's record-breaking storm.

Opids Camp led the way with 2.64 inches of rainfall, according to the National Weather Service . UCLA's campus wasn't far behind, at 2.62 inches.

Alahambra, downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the Getty Center also received more than two inches of rain.

Sitting just above Pasadena, Opids Camp has always been a fascination for weather enthusiasts. The school camp received more than 107 inches of rain in 2005, one of Los Angeles County's wettest years on record.

-- James Queally

In the event you planned on watering your lawn in a raincoat and galoshes, this sign is here to shame you back into your house.

The sky had already begun to clear Tuesday morning, but Paris Yavuz, 27, was still feeling a lingering, annoying effect of the rainfall as he worked the counter at the Boathouse Cafe near Echo Park Lake.

"My feet are wet," he said.

When the cafe opened at 8 a.m., it was pouring. He walked from his home in Echo Park nearby, and got a kick out of people's reactions to the weather. They all wore lots of clothes and ordered hot drinks.

"No one's talking about it," he said. "It's just like quiet acceptance."

Outside the cafe, Joe Hartman, 57, was reading on his iPad, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts while sipping coffee.

He rode his bike over from the nearby house where he is dog-sitting for a friend. Hartman said he got a little wet, but was glad he didn't have to drive in the rain.

An Ohio native, Hartman said he was amused by Angelenos' reactions to the rain. Just a few drops, he said, and everyone forgets how to drive.

"I thought El Niño was supposed to come in the winter," he said.

The two pit bulls he was watching were less than thrilled about the rainfall this morning. The dogs usually bolt outside when he opens the door to let them out for their morning walk.

But on Tuesday, they just stared at him and then went to lie down.

"They were like, 'you go outside.'"

-- Hailey Branson-Potts

It felt more like Alabama than Alhambra on Tuesday morning, as a warm, heavy tropical rain poured down, pelting roofs so hard that residents found it difficult to sleep.

By 9 a.m., an astonishing 2.45 inches of rain fell in Alhambra, the most recorded in Los Angeles County, according to the National Weather Service.

"It's highly strange right now -- it's just very unexpected this time of year," said Lilia Lopez, 45, as she held an umbrella waiting for a bus to arrive.

September is typically a hot month for Southern California, in the middle of the dry season and well before winter rains come.

"We don't remember the last time it really rained quite like a hot, humid rain in this time of year. We're taken by surprise," Lopez said.

The rain was so heavy that public transportation was thrown off schedule. Lopez was having no luck with Metro buses as she tried to find a way to her job at an insurance office in downtown Los Angeles.

"This is supposed to be here," she said, waiting at a bus stop, but an app on her phone said the Metro bus was still more than half an hour away.

"On a day like today, who knows when it will come by?"

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

The short answer is not that much.

Between 80% and 90% of the rain that falls in the urban Southland winds up in a vast storm drain system that eventually dumps it into the ocean.

Locally, rain collects in one of 14 reservoirs in the mountains and is held for later use. At the same time, water in the system is shunted to sunken basins called "spreading grounds," where it slowly seeps into the ground and replenishes the local aquifer.

-- Matt Stevens

Swift-water rescue teams plucked people from the L.A. River in at least three separate places Tuesday morning.

Los Angeles firefighters rescued a man from the river near Fletcher Drive and transported him to the hospital in fair condition, officials tweeted .

About two miles downriver at Shoredale Avenue, two other men and a dog were found clinging to a tree. One of the men was taken to the hospital and is in fair condition.

In Long Beach, three people and a dog were rescued after the ground they were standing on became surrounded by swift-moving water.

Two men, a 60-year-old and a 55-year-old, were fishing near the river when they became trapped, said Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Jake Heflin. A 20-year-old homeless woman who lives on the river was also rescued with them, as was a stray dog.

There were no injuries.

Officials are warning residents to stay away from the river, which has swelled with the morning rain.

-- Christine Mai-Duc

CHP's Southern Division is tweeting out the latest SigAlerts.

Tweets by @CHPsouthern

About 150 residents were evacuated from a West Hollywood assisted living apartment building early Tuesday morning after water began leaking from the roof and into light fixtures.

Firefighters were dispatched around 4:15 a.m. to the building, in the 800 block of West Knoll Drive, after reports of flooding. Water from roof construction appeared to be dripping down through the walls and ceilings, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Jayd Swendseid.

“It's uninhabitable,” Swendseid said.

The building has been deemed an electrical safety hazard, according to inspector David Dantic, a spokesman for L.A. County Fire.

Firefighters are still evacuating the 135-building unit, and residents are being taken to a community center. Six residents who cannot walk have been evacuated to a hospital.

-- Christine Mai-Duc

How dry has it been, Southern California? When was the last time your shoes got drenched? #LATweather

California Highway Patrol officers have had their hands full today. Here's a snapshot of just 17 minutes on L.A. highways this morning.

See live reports on the CHP website >>

It's obvious the freeways are a mess right now, but there is a way to avoid driving through all the flooding and SigAlerts: Take Metro.

Of course, even taking Metro won't be completely stress-free. The transit system has been experiencing some mechanical issues and delays due to the bad weather. But at least someone else is doing the driving.

How much longer is it taking you? Let us know #LATweather

Some people (we're guessing those who don't have to drive anywhere) woke up happy about the raindrops.

It's definitely not an easy day to get to work on time because of jammed traffic from the rain.

Tell us your headache stories from this morning. What's your usual commute time, and what is it today? Use the comments or tweet @lanow using #LATweather.

The photo above was actually snapped by one of our editors this morning, who got off the 710 just before it was shut down.

The traffic is particularly nasty out there this morning - California Highway Patrol reports that the 710 Freeway is shut down in both directions at Gage Avenue due to flooding, as is the transition from westbound 60 to the northbound 605 Freeway.

Angelenos, you know the drill - leave earlier.

-- Christine Mai-Duc